Ras Mohammed National Park
Overview
Ras Mohammed National Park occupies one of the world's most
extraordinary settings: a slender, dramatically arid peninsula
at the very southernmost tip of the Sinai, rising to a dramatic
promontory that looks out over some of the most gloriously rich
coral reefs that you will ever see. The Ras Mohammed peninsula
marks the nexus of the shallow Gulf of Suez and the deep
intercontinental chasm of the Gulf of Aqaba, itself a small
portion of the Great Rift Valley that stretches deep into
Africa. Declared a park in 1983, Ras Mohammed contains within
its modest area an astounding variety of life, ranging from the
gazelles of its northern desert area to the brilliant orange
coral groupers of its skirting reefs.
The boundaries of Ras Mohammed extend far out into the
surrounding waters, and even the most casual of visitors is
struck by how much of the park is dominated by the sea. Even the
dry land area of the park seems a part of the marine world: in
the north, large dunes are interspersed with outcroppings of
Miocene limestone in which are embedded an astonishing wealth
and variety of marine fossils. In fact, the dramatic promontory
that marks the Sinai's southernmost tip belongs in part to the
sea, as it is in fact an enormous, fossilized coral reef, left
high and dry tens of thousands of years ago.
For many visitors, Ras Mohammed's most stunning scenery is found
underwater, in the broad, terraced coral reefs that encircle the
peninsula. Fire corals and brilliant sea fans abound here, and
among these lush reef corals roams a truly magnificent array of
both reef and pelagic fish--over a thousand species in all.